Carlos Gonzalez crushed a mammoth 480-foot foul ball to the top of the Coors Field upper deck

It is just a simple chalk line and a yellow pole that separates fair from foul; a hit from just another strike; one of the most majestic home runs for a play no one will remember tomorrow. As Carlos Gonzalez showed during Wednesday's 8-1 win over the Indians, sometimes it's unfair that we have to follow those designations so closely.

Batting in the bottom of the fifth, Gonzalez smashed Nick Goody's offering. The outfielder dropped his bat. He craned his neck. Everyone craned their necks and stared almost straight up.

Unfortunately, though the ball scraped the heavens and landed beyond all the seats to the railing of the upper deck, it hooked just wide of the foul pole. Even if the ball was 480-feet from home plate -- 12 feet further than Gonzalez's longest dinger -- Gonzalez had to step back in, the count still 1-2.

Gonzalez would eventually go down on strikes, but there is still one winner in this story: The fan who made a smooth grab on the ball at the back of the stands. When you buy seats at the top of a stadium, rarely do you expect to walk away with anything other than a good view of passing airplanes. Not so today.

MLB.com's Manny Randhawa spoked to CarGo postgame:

"This was probably the most painful foul ball I've hit," the slugger said. "I've hit some balls in the third deck before for home runs, and when you hit the ball that far you want to get rewarded for it. I should at least get a double for that."

Manager Bud Black also really wanted it to stay fair.

"I was just thinking, 'Stay fair.' That was one of the longest ones I've ever seen. You guys have been around here longer than me, but that ball was crushed. And that got up there just a little bit right of that tavern sign up there. When you see a tavern sign, that usually means it's a long way."